I chose a Piggy Bank for my Art from home paper.

The origin of piggy banks dates back nearly 600 years, in a time before real banks even existed.

Before the creation of modern style banking institutions, people commonly stored their money

at home. During the Middle Ages, metal was expensive and seldom used for household wares.

Instead, dishes and post were made of an economical orange-colored clay called pygg. Over

time, “pygg” evolved with the English alphabet, turning into “pigge” and, finally, “pig.” That

explains why potters in 19th century England started making pig-shaped vessels when people

asked for pygg banks. It might have been accidental, but the model’s been with us ever since.

Piggy bank is the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children. The piggy bank

is known to collectors as a “still bank” as opposed to the “mechanical banks” popular in the

early 20th century. The use of the name ‘piggy bank’ gave rise to its widely recognized pig

shape, and many financial services companies use piggy banks as logos for their savings

products. Piggy banks are usually made of ceramic or porcelain. They are generally painted and

serve as a pedagogical device to teach the rudiments of thrift and savings to children.

Early models had no hole in the bottom, so the pig had to be broken to get money out. Some

people say that’s where we get the expression “breaking the bank,” but serious academics

disagree. The idiom “break the bank” means to ruin one financially, or to exhaust one’s

resources. The term is believed to originate in gambling, where it means that a player has won

more than the banker can pay. Believe it or not, the basic piggy bank used to be far more than

just a childhood relic. The concept of stashing cash in hollowed objects has been around for

nearly six centuries.

Western Europeans weren’t the only ones making piggy banks. Indeed, the first true piggy

banks were made in Java as far back as the 14th century. Not many ancient Indonesian piggy

banks survive today, since they needed to be busted part to get at the coins. Unbroken

Javanese piggy banks are very rare. In Great Britain, a 650-year old Majapahit terra cotta piggy

bank was offered for sale approximately $10,000. Majapahit terra cotta piggy’s methods for

making is modeling and found similar figure in textbook, Figure 11.4, Figurine of a voluptuous

lady.

To this day in some European countries, Asia, notably in the Netherlands and German speaking

countries, it is customary to give piggy banks as gifts because pigs are associated with luck and

good fortune. At New Years, so-called “Lucky Pigs” are still exchanged as gifts.

Resources:

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/03/23/the-history-of-piggy-banks/

https://thefinancialbrand.com/24204/history-of-piggy-banks/

http://www.businessinsider.com/revealed-the-true-origin-of-the-piggy-bank-2012-6